Week of December 21-23, 2020

Commission meetings and hearings

No open meetings or executive sessions were scheduled this week.

Advisory opinions

Request received

Advisory Opinion Request 2020-06 (Escobar). On December 23, 2020, the Commission made public an advisory opinion request from Rep. Veronica Escobar. The requestor asks whether she may use campaign funds to pay for home security expenses recommended by the House Sergeant at Arms. The Commission will accept written comments on the request during the 10-day period following publication of the request (no later than January 4) and must issue a response no later than 60 days after the receipt of the complete request, that is, by February 22, 2021.

Supplemental material received

Advisory Opinion Request 2020-02 (Bertrand). On December 21, the Commission made public Supplemental Material. Requestor Jean-Marc Bertrand, a U.S. citizen residing in Canada, asks several questions regarding his proposal to make expenditures for certain online political advertisements.

Election of officers

On December 21, the Commission approved the nomination of Commissioner Shana M. Broussard to serve as Chair for 2021, and on December 22, the Commission approved the nomination of Commissioner Allen Dickerson to serve as Vice Chair.

Press releases

Shana M. Broussard elected Chair, Allen Dickerson elected Vice Chair for 2021 (issued December 22)

Upcoming Commission meetings

January 12, 2021: The Commission is scheduled to meet in executive session.

Upcoming reporting due dates

December 24, 2020: Pre-Runoff Reports are due for participating candidates and certain other committees that make contributions or expenditures in connection with either Georgia Senate runoff election. Consult the FEC’s informational article, “Reporting guidance for Georgia runoff elections (2020)” for more information or contact your FEC campaign finance analyst at 800-424-9530 (menu option 5).

January 31, 2021: Year-End Reports are due.

Upcoming educational programs

January 13-14, 2021: The Commission will host reporting and FECFile webinars for campaigns, PACs, and party committees.

Status of agency operations

See the Commission’s statement on the status of agency operations, updated on August 10, 2020. At this stage, most agency staff remain in telework status and the Commission’s office remains closed to visitors.

Additional research materials

Contribution Limits. In addition to the current limits, the Commission has posted an archive of contribution limits that were in effect going back to the 1975-1976 election cycles.

Federal Elections 2018: Election Results for the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives is available. The data was compiled from the official vote totals published by state election offices.

FEC Notify: Want to be notified by email when campaign finance reports are received by the agency? Sign up here.

Additional research materials about the agency, campaign finance information, and election results are available through the Library section of the Commission website.

The 2019 Combined Federal State Disclosure and Election Directory is available. This publication identifies the federal and state agencies responsible for the disclosure of campaign finances, lobbying, personal finances, public financing, candidates on the ballot, election results, spending on state initiatives and other financial filings.

The FEC Record is available as a continuously updated online news source.

Other election-related resources

Videos on protecting U.S. elections. The FBI’s Protected Voices initiative provides videos designed to help political campaigns protect themselves from foreign influence. The 2019 videos offer guidance on ransomware, business email compromise, supply chain, social media literacy, and foreign influence operations. Other videos, released in 2018, include cyber hygiene topics such as social engineering, patching, router hardening, and app and browser safety.

Join the FEC on Twitter and YouTube

Follow @FEC on Twitter to receive the latest information on agency updates, news releases, and weekly activity. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, FECTube: FECConnect on Demand, to watch instructional videos that have been designed to help candidates and committees comply with federal campaign finance laws. Note that the FEC is not currently available through other social media platforms at this time. The use of the agency’s logo, name, and likeness on other media has not been authorized by the FEC.